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The 50 Best U.S. Driving Routes

May 5, 2010

Maybe you can't get to the Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road in the United Arab Emir-ates (the 7.3-mile stretch of serpentine, glass-smooth asphalt that climbs nearly 4000 feet, includes 60 corners and has been called the best road in the world by more than one search engine), but how about the Taconic State Parkway in upstate New York? Highway 1 in California? State Road 135 in Indiana? Or Tennessee's Route 129? If you love to drive, you'll love this list.

But first, a disclaimer is necessary. Creating any list of bests is fraught with inherent judgments. Some of the routes we chose are so beautiful that you won't

believe it. All of them have strictly enforced speed limits, and you might never make it out of third gear. Others, such as Route 290 in the Texas hill country, may be conducive to exploring the upper ranges of your tachometer, but they're long and straight and arguably bor-ing. The bottom line, though, is that the best driving roads in America—the ones where you can drive as fast as you want without having to worry about losing your license or running over bicyclists and wayward pedestrians—have names such as Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta and Lime Rock.

Check your tire pressure, fasten your seatbelt, shut up that voice on the navigation system, and go for a drive.

>>For a small state, Maine has a lot of great roads. If it's your first time, consider limiting yourself to the coast. Think of Route 1 as a tree trunk, with interesting branches shooting down to the Atlantic. Start in Brunswick, and end in Ellsworth. Routes 24, 209, 127, 130 and 131 are worthwhile detours, and be sure to take the side trip to Stonington on the tip of Deer Isle. You'll rack up about 300 miles if you do it all.

>>The Champlain Loop circles the lake it's named after and is almost equally distributed over Vermont and upper New York State. Start in Westport, New York, and travel down Route 9N/22 to the bridge that takes you into Vermont. Follow Route 17 to Vergennes, then stay on Route 7 to Sand Bar State Park. The Loop is well marked and will bring you back to New York's Route 9. The road through Mount Philo State Park has more corkscrews than a wine shop. The Loop is about 200 miles in all.

>> For a great fall-foliage trip that's a bit less crowded, try the 120-mile stretch between Hanover, New Hampshire, and Mount Attitash. Take Route 10 north to Littleton, then swing southeast on 302. Long sweepers cut through granite mountains. Take the cog railway at Mount Washington, or ogle the Presidential Range from Mount Attitash.

>> North of New Milford, Connecticut, Route 7 is a relatively traffic-free two-lane blacktop that winds along the Housatonic River clear up to Ver-mont. The stretch between Kent and Lime Rock affords more smiles per gallon than most public highways. Towns such as Great Barrington make nice pit stops, but this road was built for driving, not shopping.

>> Driving in Massachusetts is more than the chaos of Boston. Try Cape Cod instead—but not in the summer. The Cape is one of the few places where drivers can enjoy New England in the winter. The ocean climate tends to keep the snow at bay (literally), and the same roads that are choked with tourists in the summer are eerily empty in the winter months. But the shoreline is beautiful year-round; take the Sagamore Bridge across the Cape Cod Canal, and enjoy Routes 6A and 6 all the way to Provincetown.

>> Appropriately, the shortest route on this list (1.4 miles) is in Rhode Island. It also has the best name: Breakneck Hill Road. It's in Lincoln.

>> Once you get out of Manhattan, New York offers lots of good driving roads. One is the Taconic State Parkway, which you can pick up about an hour north of the city in Westchester County. Built from the 1930s to the early '50s, it has the look and feel of a WPA project. Narrow lanes are bordered by Armco on one side and granite walls on the other, making the diving turns in Dutchess County a thrill a minute.

>> There's more to New Jersey than Newark Airport and the Turnpike. The Palisades Inter-state Parkway, for example, offers some beautiful stretches along the Hudson River, just north of the George Washington Bridge. For an enjoyable drive through the Garden State, start at High Point State Park near the New York border, take 519 down to Branchville, then go north on 206 until you get to 521/615, which you can follow west to the Delaware Water Gap. Or reinforce the stereotype and take a Sopranos driving tour (Google offers several).

>> In southwestern Pennsylvania is a gorgeous chunk of real estate known as Laurel Highlands. It might sound familiar as the location of Fallingwater, the famous Frank Lloyd Wright house. You might also have heard of it from buddies who have driven Route 30 from Bald Knob Summit to Ligonier or 711/381 to Farmington. The section between Ligonier and Fallingwater has some excellent whoop-de-dos.

>> Although neighboring Pennsylvania would probably like to claim it, SR 82 belongs to Delaware. Climb aboard in Birdsboro, and get off in Hockessin, or vice versa.

>> Like Texas, Maryland has a hill country. It also has a panhandle, which offers some interesting roads, including the funky stretch of Savage River Road that connects Merrill with Blooming-ton. Be sure to include the Wildland Drive/Sawmill Drive “chicane” at the midway point.

>> Skyline Drive in Virginia may not be the fastest road, but it's one of the prettiest. This 105-mile odyssey through Shenandoah National Park starts in Font Royal (if you're heading south) and ends near Waynesboro. For more spirited driving, try the area around Middleburg, just to the north. Take Foxcroft Road into the countryside on the north side of Route 50, and get lost in the twisties for an hour or so.

>> West Virginia is home to the Midland Trail, a 120-mile day trip that'll have you whistling that John Denver tune (“Almost heaven . . .”) as you twist and turn your way from White Sulphur Springs to Charleston along magnificent Route 60. State Road 15 from I-79 to US-219 is a sim-ilar rural adventure.

>> North Carolina might be known for NASCAR, but the hill country near Ashe-ville is more suited to grand touring than to the roundy-round. Reminiscent of southern New England, the rolling landscape invites you to test your driving skills. Pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway at Cumberland Knob, and head southwest. There are a number of good spur roads off the Parkway, such as the Heintooga Ridge Road and the spur to Mount Mitchell State Park.

>> Tennessee has its share of slo-mo mountain-view roads, too, including 26 miles of Route 64 through the Cherokee National Forest from Ocoee to Ducktown. More important, it shares the fabled Tail of the Dragon, a nasty stretch of Route 129 that connects the Volunteer State to Deal's Gap, North Carolina. There's a reason Thunder Road (1958) was filmed here: The harrowing highway packs 318 turns into just 11 miles. Everybody knows about this road (including the state police), but unless your last name is Millen, you don't have to set a new speed record to enjoy its twists and turns.

>> Mississippi boasts the Natchez Trace Parkway (450 miles from Natchez to Garrison Creek, Tennessee), but it's even better if you explore side roads such as Route 552 in Wind-sor Ruins. From there, wind back via Route 18.

>> In South Carolina, try Route 28. Jump on in Walhalla, and don't stop until you get to High-lands, North Carolina. This route is popular with bikers, so you're likely to have some fast company. In the southern part of the state, try Pocotaligo to Hunting Island via Route 21.

>> If Georgia's on your mind, head out of Clayton on old High-way 441 through Lakemont to State Route 197. Turn right, and enjoy the drive to US-76. Then take Bridge Creek Road to Tiger and 441 back to Clayton. GA-400 (especially the stretch from exit 12 to exit 13) thinks it's the autostrada.

>> Florida's roads are as varied as its landscape. While many prefer to hug the coastline and end up in Key West, we suggest a nice loop in central Florida that starts in Wesley Chapel and ends up in Clermont. Avoid the big highways, and use the smaller two-lanes that link the towns of Lacoochee, Webster, Center Hill, Howey-in-the Hills and Monteverde.

>> We've already mentioned the Mississippi part of the Natchez Trace Parkway, but if you take it to Alabama, check out the corridor that connects I-59 (Fort Payne) and I-20 (Heflin). Its called the Appalachian Highlands Scenic By-way, and it includes the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi and the highest point in the state.

>> To visit the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, pick up Route 68 in Hopkins-ville, and head east. The Duncan Hines Scenic Byway (Route 236) peels of to the north at the 31W intersection. For pure driving pleasure, take Route 22 from Williamstown to Willow.

>> Nashville—the one in Indiana—is the starting point for a 100-mile jaunt south to Mauckport on Route 135. You'll see hills, rivers, covered bridges, elevation changes and a ghost town.

>> Southeast Ohio has great driving roads. Route 26 from Marietta to Woodsfield is the best.

>> If you avoid the height of the tourist season, Michigan's Upper Peninsula offers some great driving and spectacular views, and it hosted the Press-On-Regardless Rally for many years. Heading east from Hiawatha National Forest near Escanaba, Routes 2, 149, 94, 28, 123 and 221 take you through scenery that looks like locations for the Discovery Channel's Sunrise Earth series. Other contenders are the 26-mile stretch of SR-35 from Negaunee to Gwinn and US-41 and SR-26 from Houghton to Copper Harbor and back on the Keweenaw Peninsula.

>> This one is long, but you can do it in one full day. Start in Portage, Wisconsin, and loop your way through Baraboo, Richland Center, Prairie du Chien, Boscobel, Muscoda and Prairie du Sac. Highways to include are 33, 136, 27 and 60. I-39 will bring you back to civilization (Madison).

>> In northern Illinois, you'll find an 18-mile ride called Scenic Ridge Road. If you start at the top (Derinda Center), you'll need to take Derinda Road until it becomes Scenic Ridge Road. Most of the scenery is just okay (with the exception of the run along the Mississippi Palisades Park), but the ride itself is smooth and curvy.

>> The 63-mile-drive from Ely, Minnesota, to Silver Bay takes you through areas that have more moose than people, so keep your eyes peeled as you zip through the tight turns. The good news is that it's hard to get lost. Just get onto Route 1, and head south. When you reach Lake Superior, stop.

>> County Road L34 from Logan, Iowa, to Council Bluffs is short (28 miles) but sweet. It's the type of road you want to keep running both ways until you've had your fill.

>> Ask folks from Missouri to “show me” a great driving road, and they might well turn you on to Route 76 in the Ozarks. The part that connects Reeds Spring to the Oklahoma border runs for almost a hundred miles for a ride you won't soon forget.

>> If you've got time for it, the 190-mile stretch of Route 9 in Arkansas (from Mammoth Springs to Owens-ville) is a day behind the wheel well spent. But if you have only, say, five minutes, there's a six-mile sprint from Cherry Valley to Birdeye along SR-42 that should get your heart started.

>> Most visitors to Louisiana head for the bayou country, which is why you should head for Grayson, just southeast of Shreveport. There you'll find SR-126, which wends its way down to Jonesville, 42 miles away. But if you crave the marshes, try SR-83 from New Iberia to Cypremort (about 20 miles).

>> The Texas hill country is chock full of good driving roads, and RR-470 (RR for Ranch Road) between Utopia and Bandera (29 miles) could serve as the poster child for the region. RR-337 from Camp Wood to Medina (58 miles) is another nice ride, but flash floods make parts of it subject to erosion.

>> In Oklahoma, consider the 49-mile drive from Claremore to Chloeta. You can extend the trip by exploring the shoreline of Lake Hudson. If you like sharp turns, this section has your name on it.

>> If you think Kansas is mostly flat, we won't argue that one. But that doesn't mean there aren't any challenging roads. In fact, one of them—SR-5 between Leavenworth and Kansas City (10 miles)—has been dismissed by some enthusiasts as too dangerous. An equally challenging (though shorter) and less controversial drive is the four-mile stretch of CR-20 between Winfield and Dexter. And there's always SR-177, a 100-plus-mile drive that rolls north through the gentle Flint Hills.

>> Contrary to popular opinion, I-80 is not the only east-west road in Nebraska. For example, there's the 20-mile ride along SR-8 from Fairbury to Odell, which has some nice sweepers as you trace the Little Blue Bell River. To the north, Route 20 from Valentine to Crawford takes you through some serious National Forest land.

>> Up near Custer State Park, South Dakota's Wildlife Loop Road provides 16 miles of driving pleasure, while State Routes 1806 and 1804 combine for a nice two-hour road trip from Mobridge to the North Dakota border.

>> North Dakota harbors a little gem called Route 22. Get aboard at New Town, and hang on till you reach Killdeer.

>> Route 212 is so good it might qualify as the best driving road in two states: Montana and Wyoming. The 141-mile joy ride connects Laurel, Montana, with Tower Junction, Wyo-ming. The unanimously favorite part is the Bear-tooth Pass Highway, which marks the crest of the route at 10,947 feet (consider getting your fuel injectors adjusted before you set out).

>> Although SR-82 from Glenwood Springs, Colorado, to Granite is pretty spectacular, our nod for the best driving road in the state goes to the San Juan Skyway, particularly the 50-mile stretch from Ouray to Silverton. We have reason to believe the pop-culture expression “Oh. My. God!” was first uttered on this road.

>> The 170-mile trip from Bernalilo, New Mexico, to Tierra Amarillo (Routes 44, 4, 501, 30 and 84) is rewarding in its entirety, but the white-knuckle portion (80 twisty miles of SR-4 that connect San Ysidro to Pojoaque) will remind you why you love to drive.

>> Save the Grand Canyon for the family vacation. For hedonistic driving pleasure in Arizona, take US-191 from Alpine to Clifton. And for the maximum in viewing pleasure, drop the top or open the sunroof. Better yet, try it on a Ducati.

>> There are two reasons to drive from the intersection of SR-95 and SR-261 in Utah to Mexican Hat. The main reason is that it's an unbelievable trip that includes a four-mile, almost vertical descent and a bunch of 180-degree turns. And then you wind up in a place called Mexican Hat.

>> Just southeast of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, take exit 22 off I-90, and head south on SR-97 toward Harrison. You'll be a happy chappy.

>> There exists in the state of Washington a narrow, twisty, scenic, bay-hugging 22-mile road called Chuckanut—which is precisely what you might do if you don't pay attention to the narrow, twisty, scenic, bay-hugging road. Lake Cava-naugh Road (exit 222 off I-5 at Stanwood, east to SR-9, north to Cavanaugh Road) is another mind blower.

>> Oregon has its own majestic shoreline, and the wine country (especially around McMinn-ville) is reminiscent of Tuscany. But for a drive-it-like-you-stole-it venue, try the Wallowa Mountain Loop. Take Route 39 off SR-86, and follow it for 68 miles through the Hell's Canyon National Park until you get to Joseph. At some point, it changes its name to Imnaha Highway, but it's the same breathtaking road.

>> Nobody goes to Las Vegas just for the scenery, but as long as you're there anyway, go northeast on I-15, take Nevada Route 169 at Crystal South, and watch the scenery change from high desert to magic as you approach the Valley of Fire State Park near the Lake Mead recreation area. The roads are a little weatherbeaten but good enough for Lamborghini to include them in the world debut of the '09 LP560-4 Gallardo.

>> Any list like this one that doesn't include California's Route 1 is suspect, to say the least. But those in the know eschew the Pacific Coast Highway (unless it's Pebble Beach season) and do this instead: Take the 5 south, exit at Route 74 (Ortega Highway) at San Juan Capistrano, and head east. This road goes all the way through Hemet and up to Idyllwild. From there, you can continue over the hill to Palm Springs, but following 243 north over to Route 10 is even better.

>> All you really need to know about driving in Alaska is Route 3. The curves are nothing to write home about, but you'll be so ga-ga over the scenery that you'd have trouble keeping your eyes on the road even if it were salt-flats-straight. But if you insist, Route 1 (Glenn High-way) from Anchorage to Palmer is pretty cool, and it's paved, unlike many Alaskan highways.

>> Since you probably won't have your own car if you visit Hawaii, you should rent something sporty and give Maui's Hana Highway a shot. The road from Hana to Paia traces the rugged shoreline for 44 twisty miles. You can do it in a little more than an hour, but hey, you'll probably be on vacation, so chill and make a day of it. If you get to Honolulu, try the spectacular nine-mile Tantalus/Round Top Loop that starts on McCully Street.